Editorial: Institute puts state in bioscience forefront

Some of Indiana’s top life sciences companies and research universities have banded together to form a new biosciences institute. The nonprofit Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, incorporated just a couple of weeks ago, is the nation’s first industry-led organization of this sort.

Gov. Mike Pence predicted the initiative will spur scientific innovation and lure new jobs, investment and leading scientists to the state. He said the arrangement will allow the group’s collaborators to “respond to market signals” more effectively than similar institutes around the U.S. while tapping into “the deep reservoir of lab-based experimentation and innovation” at the state’s universities.

Pence said Indiana’s about 2,000 life sciences companies, which together contribute about $50 billion to the state’s economy annually, will receive a boost in the years ahead as the institute ramps up its collaborations between industry and academia and attracts top scientists to the state.

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